Momper II, Joost de
Antwerp, ca. 1564 - Antwerp, 1635After a period of training with his father, Bartholomeus de Momper, he joined the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke of his city around 1581. In 1594, he collaborated with Cornelis Floris on the decorations for the Entry of the Archduke Ernest into Antwerp, and the following year, he produced tapestry cartoons for Albert, Archduke of Austria. Shortly afterwards, he partook in a brief and scarcely documented trip through Italy. Various landscape drawings and city views in the style of Paul Bril, who was also in Italy, have survived from this period. His style is akin to that of the Italianate Flemish painter Ludovico Pozzoserrato (Lodewijk Toeput), who worked in Venice, suggesting that Momper may have visited the city. By the 1590s, he had returned to Antwerp, and in 1611, he was appointed dean of the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke. Despite the fact that almost none of his works are dated, a clear stylistic development can be established. His early works are characterised by the inclusion of abrupt and geometrical mountains, with paths occasionally meandering through them. These works are closely related to Tobias Verhaecht and conceptually parallel to Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s mountainous landscapes, in which nature’s threatening aspect is evident through the effects of light and the general drama of the scene. His inspiration from the painting style of Joachim Patinir, however, is also unmistakeable. The work River Landscape with a Boar Hunt (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) corresponds to this period. His era of greatest production runs from 1600 to 1620, characterised by more realistic depictions and an interest in topography, with a light, loose style that conveys the natural sensitivity of the landscapes. The traditional concept of using three colours in his paintings, namely brown, green and blue, depending on the plane of the picture, very typical in his early work, gives way to less complicated compositions based on two main and unique picture planes. Big Mountainscape (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) corresponds to this period. His later work does not evolve excessively; his mountainous landscapes increase in size and his brushstrokes become looser. Nevertheless, he continues to employ the same motifs. Approximately five hundred of his paintings survive, on which other artists frequently collaborated, given the specialisation system of Flemish painters. Among his immediate pupils count Louis de Caulery and probably Jean Fouquier (Pérez Preciado, J. J. en: E.M.N.P, 2006, tomo V, pp. 1569-1570).